Harsh Truth
by Kazane Hime
Summary: After the defeat of the Adephagos, Brave Vesperia and the Empire still have enemies. One of these is hired to kill an important member of the party and thirsts for her brother's revenge. Yustelle, YuriXSodia, FlynnXRita. Please Review.
1. Harsh Truth 1: the loss of loved ones

**This is from a random idea I had. I'm not really a Yuri X Sodia fan, yet I do see the evidence, and I do feel sorry for Sodia. Read, Enjoy, and Review.**

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><p>Pain, he hated it. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move. He was only just managing to stay awake as it was, with his head throbbing, feeling like it would split apart. Yet he had to help her. He had to. He could hear her screams, smell her blood in the air, hell, he could even taste his own blood in his mouth.<p>

How could he be so utterly useless? He was just lying here while they killed her, the heir to the throne! Why couldn't he shut it out, or at least get up and save her? All his friends lay in the same state as he did, almost unconscious, unable to help, unable to do anything other than lie there, absolutely helpless.

He could hear her, calling for him to help her, telling her attacker to stop it. Damn, he could hear every single word, every single breath she took. Yuri Lowell lay, utterly helpless, on the ground as the person that meant the most to him, Estelle, was being killed.

The stinging tears that lay at the corners of his eyes exploded down his face as a scream came, followed by the barely audible sound of "I… love you…Y-Yuri…" before there came a thud and all sound from the pink haired princess ceased.

No longer could he take it. Something inside of him snapped and everything went black.

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><p>The red and yellow haired girl laughed, flicking her flowing hair over her shoulder. Oh, she'd make all of them pay for what they did to her brother. Even though her job was only to kill the princess, no harm could come from annihilating all of the princess' friends.<p>

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dark one get up. What did her brother call him…? Oh, yes, it was Yuri Lowell.

"Haven't had enough beating yet, Yuri Lowell~?" She called, shaking the blood from the collapsed princess off of her daggers. The princess's eyes continued to stream with tears and her white dress was stained with her own blood. Unseeing eyes stared toward the dark-haired swordsman just as they had when she said her final words.

Something was wrong. Zira could feel it. Yuri's eyes were all black as if someone had poured ink in them. Black tears ran down his face, unchecked by his usual resolve and the black in his eyes bubbled gruesomely.

"What th-" Was all she got out before a searing pain took over her senses. She looked down, there; right through her heart, was a black sword. "B-but… How did-" She was cut off as blood flooded up her throat, choking her until she spat it out. The red-headed woman could already feel her life ebbing away and any more words refused to exit her suddenly parched throat.

She fell with a 'thunk' and saw her opponent sink down to one knee before falling to the side, unconscious.

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><p>"Could you be any more pathetic..." The ginger-haired girl said, looking down at the figure on the bed. "What right did you have to say that to me when you would end up doing this?"<p>

Gazing down at the black-haired swordsman on the bed in front of her didn't make the knight as angry as it usually did. For some reason, every time she saw him or heard his name, something inside her snapped. However, looking down at his form here didn't create the usual reaction. He seemed so... helpless lying there on the white sheets.

"Staring at him won't heal him you know." A person stated from behind the ginger-haired girl.

"I know..." Sodia said, getting up from the stool and turning to see the brunette mage. "H-How long do you think he'll be out?" She asked, casting a glace back at the swordsman.

"The castle healers said his body is healed, but his mind is still recovering from the shock," Rita explained angrily. "As are we all..." she mumbled to herself.

"Oh, because of _that._" Sodia stated, looking to the side.

"Anyways, Flynn sent me to get you. He needs your help to get the nobles to calm down." Rita said, slightly pausing before saying the name of who she usually addressed as "Blondie."

"The commandant?" Soda asked, turning her cat-like eyes back to Rita, who nodded. "Okay, tell him I'll be right there."

Rita nodded again and left the infirmary, her usual hot attitude tamed by the weight of sorrow. She walked out of the castle towards where Flynn was attempting to calm the nobles that had heard of what happened.

"She's coming," Rita told him as she approached. "Yuri's still out cold though."

"I see..." Flynn said, turning to see the shorter mage as she descended the last of the steps towards him. He then turned toward the nobles and called out. "Currently, we are working on figuring out who sent the assassin. Please, calm yourselves."

"The assassin that killed Lady Estellise has been confirmed to be dead. It would be foolish for them to attack again so soon. There is no reason for you to be concerned for your well being. Even if they attack again, the combined knights and guilds will stop them." Sodia announced as she came out of the castle's gates. The nobles looked at Flynn's second-in-command and, talking amongst themselves, slowly dispersed.

"Thanks Sodia," Flynn smiled as he turned to face the female knight. "They've been uneasy since the rumors spread."

"Yeah, um... thanks." Rita added. "I guess..."

"Is that jealously I detect, genius mage?" A voice stated from behind them. Mentioned mage's face turned beet red.

"Wh-why you!" Rita growled, spinning around and summoning a fireball at whoever said it.

"Whoa!" The purple coated man exclaimed, leaping out of the way just in time. "Down girl!"

"Calm down, Ms. Mordio." Flynn said, putting his hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaping on Raven, who she was currently glaring daggers at.

"Uh... I'll get you old man!" Rita growled quietly and turned away. Her face was still as red as her outfit.

"Should we get back into the castle then?" Sodia asked. Thankful for the distraction, Rita nodded and started towards the castle first. Flynn and Raven soon followed her until only Sodia was left outside. She, in turn, followed after awhile.

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><p>Later that day, the entire group minus Yuri was in the dining hall of the castle. Even with Rita occasionally hitting Karol for stupid things and stomping no Raven's foot whenever he said perverted things, the atmosphere was stuffy. Everyone was worried about the "leader" of the group, not to mention all of them were still recovering from the shock of Estelle's death.<p>

"So... How's the boss doing?" Raven asked, rubbing his throbbing head from where Rita had smacked him with her book. The room was silent for a minute before Sodia spoke up.

"He's still out cold, but just because of the mental shock."

"I can imagine, with what Estelle said before she... died." Rita said, the last word laced with sorrow.

"I think its... strange that he's still out even after a week since it happened." Sodia commented, refusing to admit that she was worried about the swordsman.

"He was hit the hardest out of all of us, by the attacker as well as Lady Estellise's death." Flynn pointed out, reaching down to pet Repede. The Nirvana dog was curled up next to his secondary master, perhaps the least worried out of the entire group. He had known Yuri for longer than any of them, except for Flynn of course. Yuri wouldn't want anyone to worry over him, plus he would never let his comrades down.

"I'm sure he's fine, Sodia." Judith said, her poker face not cracking to show how worried she actually was.

"I know, I know." The ginger-haired knight stood up as she spoke. "I'm going to bed, good night." As she left, servants appeared and cleared her dishes. Sodia herself left the dining hall and headed down the corridor towards where Yuri was.

Once again, she found herself looking upon him now and it didn't spark the usual anger she had felt when she first met him. She had recognized the swordsman after actually taking time to look him over and drew her sword immediately, yet instead of doing anything to defend himself, he simply stood there staring at her with a level gaze. That had unnerved her more than anything her training or time as a knight could prepare her for.

Every time she saw him, he astounded her. He had refused to point out what she had done when she tried to kill him on top of Zaude. Afterwards, he impressed her even more when he stated that; "Flynn is a perfect knight, a perfect leader. He doesn't need a criminal by his side. I'm just standing in until the right person comes along."Suddenly, the image of a criminal she had had in her mind dissolved into what she saw that day; someone who stained his own hands with blood for the good of other people, not for his own sake.

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><p>The next morning, Flynn found his second-in-command sleeping leaned on the bed where his best friend slept. With a gentle smile, he grabbed a blanket off of the rack in the corner of the room and lay it over her shoulders. After setting down the blanker, a slight movement from the bed caught his attention.<p>

Slowly, slate grey eyes appeared from under receding eyelids as Yuri opened his eyes for the first time in a week. Blurry images were the first that came to him as his eyes adjusted to the light after the blinding darkness. After focusing, Yuri saw Flynn standing by the white-sheeted bed he lay on, and Flynn's cat-eyed second-in-command lay sleeping with a newly placed blanket over her shoulders.

"Huh," Yuri sat up and looked around. "Where...?"

"We're in the healer's area," Flynn explained.

"Healers..." The scene from a week ago played again in his head as it had while he was unconscious. "Estelle... She's gone."

Flynn simply nodded at the statement, letting Yuri's brain to process everything that had happened.

"How long have I been out?" Yuri asked, only his eyes betraying his grief-stricken heart.

"A week. Sodia's been checking up on you every day. She even fell asleep here last night." Flynn said, pointing out the shape on the edge of the bed.

"What's happened in that week?" The swordsman looked at the cat-eyed knight again, smiling slightly at her happily sleeping face before a frown crossed his face. _That face reminded him too much of Estelle_.

"Ms. Mordio has been helping me calm down the nobles that heard of what happened. Sch-no, Raven, Judith, and Karol have been working on guild stuff as well as helping with what needs to be done." Flynn said, pausing when he noticed the frown before continuing. "We'll be safe for awhile, since the assassin was killed and their target was Lady Estellise."

"Huh...? Wait a second," Yuri said surprised. "The assassin was killed?"

Flynn nodded, looking slightly confused. "You were the one that killed the assassin, Yuri."

"...Strange. Guess I just don't remember. It'll come back to me eventually."

"Yuri..." Flynn started, and then decided against saying what he was thinking. "I need to get going."

Yuri grunted in acknowledgement as the blonde knight stood up and started to walk away before stopping to say one more thing.

"Tell Sodia she has the day off when she gets up. Ms. Mordio is going to take care of her stuff." Flynn took the curt nod from his friend as an agreement and left the room.

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><p>It was about half a hour before the ginger-haired knight woke up. As she opened her eyes, she saw that the blankets had shifted and felt the new warmth over her shoulders. Looking up further, Sodia noticed Yuri sitting up in his bed, staring off into space with a unreadable expression. Once he noticed that she was awake, he turned towards her, the expression that had saddened his features gone in the blink of an eye.<p>

"Morning, sleepyhead." Yuri said, looking down at her. His trademark smirk failed to decorate his face as he regarded her. Even so, his comment made her go on an angry spree.

"What right do you have to say that to me when you were out for a week?" Sodia asked, sitting up so fast that the blanket carefully draped over her shoulders fell off.

"Nice to see you're spunky already." Yuri remarked, ignoring her pointed question. "Anyways, Flynn told me to tell you that you have the day off. Rita'll take care of your jobs."

"The Commandant said that?" Sodia more stated that asked it. "Why?"

"Probably 'cause you don't seem to be getting enough sleep, or something along those lines." At this he grinned, his appearence just a shield to block prying eyes from seeing how he felt.

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><p><strong>I am still new at writing fanfictions, so please tell me your opinion. Like I mentioned before, I am not really a Yuri X Sodia fan but I tried to incorporate the pairing into this. Being a big Yustelle fan, I had to get rid of Estelle to be able to go through with this.<strong>

**Also, I am unsure as weither to keep this as a one-shot, or to extend it to explain what happened and add more pairing moments. Please, Review, Review, Review.**


	2. Harsh Truth 2: What Comes After Oblivion

**Sorry its been so long since I've updated a story, my mind is kinda jumping back and forth from one idea to another. Anyways, after popular demand, here is the second chapter of Harsh Truth. I only own the plot and plot twists. Everything else goes to its rightful owner. Please, Read, Enjoy, and Review! :3**

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><p>Deep within, a dark voice called out, offering power and invincibility yet went ignored once again, its voice still inaudible. Even after being released once, the bonds that held it into place in the man's mind remained intact.<p>

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><p>"Yuri," A voice called out. "You need to rest; there might still be some problems since you passed out. The entire castle is guarded so it will be safe."<p>

"Don't you mean to say that it will be impossible for me to get out, Flynn?" Yuri asked, sitting on his bed.

"You know me too well." Flynn said with a smile. "Just stay in your room for now. I'll have Sodia come check up on you later."

The black-haired swordsman nodded in response, his gaze straying to the (unfortunately locked from the outside) window.

"I have to go then. See you later, Yuri." Flynn stated before walking out of the room. Once he left, Yuri's gaze stayed on the window yet he listened to see if there was a guard outside his door. Yuri had never been good with staying in one place for long periods of time without breathers.

After listening attentively for a few minutes, the dark swordsman decided that there was no guard on duty outside his room and pulled back the covers almost silently. He quickly moved across the room and opened the door slowly, checking to see if there were any passing guards that might catch him. Nothing, again. With a small smirk, Yuri slipped out of his room and made his way towards a very familiar exit.

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><p>Metal clanked against the stone hallway as a ginger-haired knight walked along, carrying a tray of food towards the room she had been in that morning. Even off duty she refused to do nothing, so she was taking care of someone who shouldn't be out of his room. Of course, this was the person that surprised her time and time again, so she wasn't as shocked as most people would be that the room, where the dark ex-knight had been earlier, was empty.<p>

"Why must he do such meaningless things?" Sodia sighed, looking around for any signs of where he could have gone. Window, no it was locked from the outside. The only way he could have gone was through the door. She sighed and left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Need some help, little lady?" Surprised, the red-headed knight turned around quickly, her hand going to the sword at her side. Leaning against the wall of the hallway was a shaggy-haired, purple-clad figure.

"Captain Schwann…"

"Raven," The figure corrected. "You goin' to look fer Yuri? Maybe I can be of some help…"

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><p>It was silent. Well, as silent as it could get with the ratwigle monsters that occupied the area. The smell of the place, on the other hand, was something that would be hard to get used to. This was where Estelle had seen monsters for the first time and it had been her pathway to freedom from the castle walls that had previously been her prison.<p>

A silent grin spread over his features as he remembered the awe on her face as she looked at the world from outside her cage. That sheltered princess had been able to travel the world as she wanted, but she was no longer able to see anything new in the world. She was dead. How had he failed to protect her so horribly? He had told Flynn he would protect her, and he had told himself that he would protect her.

The black-haired man mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't be focusing on something that happened in the past, something he couldn't change. The only place he would see Estelle again was the Labyrinth of Memories, where she would be in the forest of Keiv Moc.

'That's it' He nodded in confirmation to the thought. 'I'll go to the Labyrinth and see her one more time…'

The dark swordsman stood from where he had been seated near the ladder into the castle. His fell arm dangled from the usual string that he held in his left hand. He had retrieved it and his Garm Fang before heading down into the sewers so he wouldn't be defenseless even against the weak ratwigles.

As he walked through the sewers, groups of the rat-like monsters would attack him, only to be quickly dispatched with a simple 'Dhaos Blast.' Artes had barely changed at all even with the loss of Blastia and Aer. The only change was that they had to formulate Mana by themselves instead of channeling the Aer into their Blastia and letting the Blastia formulate the Aer.

Yuri stopped as he got close to the ladder out into the Noble Quarter and turned around. There, behind him, was the ginger-haired knight that had visited him earlier. Her outfit and armor was splotched with sewer water and dust. Yuri sighed and waited for the reprimanding that would come as she opened her mouth.

"Yuri Lowell."

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><p><strong>Sorry its so short... I ran out of ideas after the first chapter. Anywho, I hope you enjoy it and please, please, please review. That's where inspiration to write more comes from. :3<strong>

**If you want to contribute any ideas/plot ideas/opinions, please put them in a review and/or message, thx. **

**-KazaneHime**


	3. Update not a chapter

**Hi, Kazane Hime here. Sorry if its been awhlie since I've updated this story. I'm just giving you an update this time, not an acutal chapter, sorry. Just recently, my flash drive, which had all of my stories and drawings, broke. That means all of the progress I had on chapters I was working on is gone since my flash drive wasn't backed up (my computer was having problems so I won't trust it with the files). I'll be working on catching up on all of my stories, probably starting with Twisted Fates since its been more than a year since I updated that.**

**I am so sorry that it'll be even longer than usual for a new chapter, no matter how hard I work since I also have college classes to deal with. This message is being put up on all of my stories, just so you know. Oh, right. Just so you guys can tell when I update and to apologize for the wait, I'll see if I can get two chapters done instead of one. :3 Thanks for your support :3**

**-Kazane Hime**


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